New wave

My early days of jazz had no women other than singers but times are turning and it's good.  I saw Olivia Uebergang and her trio last night at Molly and it was a student turnout and a Real book read and a great little outing even with some amusing reconsiderations of the playlist.  That's common enough for all.  With Olivia were Sean Kirk and Harrison Whalan, drums and bass.  There were some comfy rhythms, mid- and up-tempo swings and latins and the like from the fake books.  Mostly heads from Olivia but a few from Harrison; several nice intros from Sean; swapped fours (sometimes spilling to 2s and 1s).  All the standard takes.  I really liked Olivia's mix of chordal plays and single notes, in both melodies and solos, and mixing in and out.  Guitar is great for that, the sudden richness of chordal colours amongst the determined single notes.  Nice extensive solos, too, interesting and varied, crisp or coloured.  Harrison, too, took some lengthy solos, often up the neck, more quick and sustained rather than phrased.  His volume was a touch low, but the tone was full with a tingling top end; nice.  Sean was busy and creative on his drums, with lovely fitting syncopations over a satisfyingly rounded kick tone that punched through complex snare and tom improvs.  This was serious business - it showed in his closed eyes and expressive face - and busily effective.  And that discussion on the play list, over the shared music stand, well that was just an amusing performance from a good natured trio.  A nice outing from some fresh players.

Olivia Uebergang (guitar) led her trio with Sean Kirk (drums) and Harrison Whalan (bass) at Molly.

Return of the Recorders

I was mightily pleased to get an invitation to a concert to welcome back the Recording Ensemble to ANOSOM.  There was once a time when the Jazz School had a Big band, a Commercial Ensemble and a Recording Ensemble.  This concert featured the Recording Ensemble for its first outing in the 2023 format and the Jazz Orchestra.  Leader Greg Stott mentioned the murky distinction of Big band / Jazz Orchestra and it's an interesting discussion but JO it is given the style of music it plays.  But first the RE.  It's smaller, just rhythm section and a small horn section.  They played several Wanderlust tunes and more and leader Miro sat in.  Not quite a slick as the JO yet, but the format is good and I welcome the arrival and look forward to more composition.  As I remember, the original tended to write its own music for recording.  It's an interesting and challenging concept.  Then the JO.  They started with a tune by Jenna Cave called For Miro.  Jenna was a student at the time of the three ensembles and is now leading the Divergence JO in Sydney.  Then a contrafact on Ray Charles with Wayne Kelly sitting in, Stella with El Osborne soloing on violin, Now's the time with Bird's solo played in harmony by the front line saxes, Sophisticated lady and Chick Corea Spain to warm us up for the end of the session.  This all happened in Athenaeum, the large ticket room and bar below Llewellyn Hall.  Then, to finish, a small band named the Tiny Jazz Collective played in the old Wig and Pen room.  TJC featured four players from the larger bands, Mereki Leten, Michael Larsen-Collins, Olivia Uebergang and Dan Simmons playing some older tunes modernised; an interesting challenge and nicely done.  Greg had hinted that this Friday Night Jazz Club may recur, so good to see the larger bands back and also, possibly, more jazz events at the ANUSOM.  After all, what is jazz without performance?

The ANU Recording Ensemble and ANU Jazz Orchestra performed at the Athenaeum at ANU followed by a small band in the old Wig and Pen room.  The Tiny Jazz Collective comprised Mereki Leten (soprano sax), Michael Larsen-Collins (this time bass), Olivia Uebergang (guitar) and Dan Simmons (drums).